Australia’s new arcade champion

Australia… has a new champion.

NSW resident Phil Day is now the unofficial world record holder on Galaga. His score, of 3.44 million points is well ahead of the previous record, 2.7 million by American Andrew Laidlaw. Phil’s score has yet to be verified by Twin Galaxies.

Old Macdonald had a… race.

Sometimes, when you visiting some indie game dev forums, you watch a trailer, and say YESSSSS!!!

(paraphrasing from their site) Barnyard Racers is a cartoon style racer with a barnyard animal theme. It’s being created in XNA for the 2009 DreamBuildPlay Contest and (the creator) plans to sell it as a Community Game through Xbox Live.

Final day: The Operation Block FAQ

This is it. The final day of “International Operation Block week”.

Thanks to everyone who’s offered their support on various online forums.. I’ll have lots of great content to share with you in coming months as I slowly develop the game.

And now, the Operation Block FAQ!

Will this be the first genuine blockbuster? (groan)

Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

But this is intersting.

“Warner Bros. is toying with plans to develop a movie around Lego. Scribes Dan and Kevin Hageman are penning the script for the family comedy that will mix live action and animation. Warners is keeping the plot tightly under wraps, but it’s described as an action adventure set in a Lego world.” (Variety)

Hmm, will it be Transformers-good, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-bad?

Hope they get Spielberg involved somehow…

Game Maker – Game Breaker

Welcome to day 4 of “International Operation Block Week”.
One day to go!

Monday I told you about the background of the remake. Tuesday I showed you how I analysed the original arcade hit. Wednesday, I showed you how I made virtual Lego objects, and today, it’s time to talk programming.

Upside down, Miss Jane*!

Melbourne’s Age (& Fairfax’s newspapers/websites elsewhere) does a lot of great stuff for videogaming.

I grew up reading C64 reviews in The Green Guide on a Thursday. In the 90’s I read the Icon liftout on a Saturday. And these days, I never miss a post on the fantastic Screen Play blog.

But did all the Age staff get the memo that “near enough isn’t good enough” for covering videogames?

LDraw: Making blocks outta nothing at all

Welcome to day 3 of “International Operation Block Week”!

Monday I told you about the background of the remake, showing the many attempts I made before I worked out a graphical style. Yesterday I showed you how I analysed the original arcade hit to make sure I could replicate the gameplay. And today, we’re talking blocks.

Operation Wolf: Dissecting a classic

(deep breath) OK, one day down, 4 to go.

If I’m going to do a Lego-style remake of Operation Wolf, then I need to do my homework.

One of my pet hates with game remakes, is when the “new” game doesn’t play like the old game. Sometimes it’s hard to work out exactly what’s wrong. So you try the original title again, and you notice the differences.

Perhaps the baddies move too fast.. or the bullets go too slow. Maybe the scenery is larger, or weapon X is weaker than it should be. I’m not insisting on 1:1 pixel perfect remakes – otherwise you might as well emulate the original. But if XYZ-The Remake ignores all the little things that made XYZ great, then I’m not a happy camper.

Anyway, enough game remake philosphy. Lets see what I actually did when I started the Operation Block project.

JOMG’s own game – Operation Block

Now THIS is something I’ve been waiting to share with you.

I’m making a game!
…a retro remake.

And since “1988’s most over the top game” is the subject of an incredibly detailed new feature in this month’s Retro Gamer magazine, now is the PERFECT time to tell you all about it.

Welcome, to Day 1 of “International Operation Block Week”.
Each day (Monday to Friday) I’ll have a little bit more for you. 🙂

But first, a little history…

Now, a “Retro Gamer double shot” on Gabe FM…

Last month, I spent 2 weeks playing a classic arcade game to death. All I can tell you about it – is its genre. It’s another shmup (shoot ’em up). I played 5 of the game’s home ports, took screenshots galore, searched for obscure trivia…

And my latest “Why you must play…” appears in Retro Gamer’s August 2009 edition, which has just started arriving in Northern hemisphere letterboxes and newsagents.